Within the Octaria System, war raged on every planet, not just the primary world. The Great Devourer had devoted more of its attention here than anywhere else, all to kill the Ork Demon King, the nominal Ork Warboss of the Octarius Sector.
To cut off the endless stream of Greenskin reinforcements from other systems, the Great Devourer devised a battle plan. It would launch a pincer offensive from the eastern and western sides of the Octarius Sector, completely isolating the Octaria System.
The early stages of the plan went very well. The all-out offensive in the northern Octarius Sector proved highly effective. Aside from a few Tendril Fleets destroyed by Aeldari fleets that appeared out of nowhere, the others all accomplished their missions admirably.
Moreover, the forces assembled in the north were sufficient to deal with the elusive Aeldari. The Great Devourer did not consider their species a major concern, despite their formidable combat strength. After consuming some Aeldari brains over several battles, it had gained a thorough understanding of them.
This was a species with considerable combat strength but very little capacity to sustain a war. Their civilization was in decline, and their population was tiny compared to other species. They could hardly afford a war of attrition. Their extraordinarily long lives had instead become a weakness: they could not afford to lose people in war.
The southern pincer had far greater problems. Before the Screw Clan appeared, it had nearly reached its designated position to link up with the northern pincer. But the Screw Clan's fleet, suddenly flying every which way, completely disrupted the southern Tendril Fleets' advance. The battlefield there was now utter chaos.
It was like an incredibly tangled ball of yarn. Even with the Great Devourer's processing power, unraveling it would be difficult.
The Calculation